Fewer and cheaper submarines would do the job, writes Brian Toohey
07 Jul 11 Comments (0)Making war
Australians have as little idea about why we are fighting in Afghanistan as they had about why we entered the first world war, writes Brian Toohey
09 Jun 11 Comments (1)War leader
Julia Gillard has a puzzling attachment to the bracing qualities of war – even wars her Labor predecessors opposed – writes Brian Toohey
05 May 11 Comments (0)Alarm clocks and barbecue stoppers
The prime minister is losing sight of why governments reform, writes Brian Toohey
06 Apr 11 Comments (0)No need to let it rip
The experience of the renewable energy target suggests that a carbon tax will work better than a market-based approach to climate change, writes Brian Toohey
03 Mar 11 Comments (3)Compulsory superannuation: a policy in search of evidence
Left to themselves, many employees would spend the money that goes into superannuation on raising a family, paying off a mortgage or pursuing further education. Compulsion robs them of that choice, writes Brian Toohey, and now the government is talking about a rise in the contribution rate
03 Feb 11 Comments (14)Misreading China
A casual reference to the use of force underlines the flaws in Kevin Rudd’s thinking about Australia’s largest trading partner, writes Brian Toohey
09 Dec 10 Comments (1)Rethinking the Murray–Darling buybacks
Buybacks aren’t the only way to reduce the amount of water being taken out of the system, argues Brian Toohey
03 Nov 10 Comments (0)“This is the kind of fight we’re in for the rest of our lives and probably our kids’ lives”
The parliamentary debate on the war needs to face up to its costs and the lack of progress, writes Brian Toohey
06 Oct 10 Comments (2)Punching at exactly our weight
How should Australia respond to the changing power balance in the region, asks Brian Toohey
08 Sep 10 Comments (1)Time to reassess our nine-year war
Despite the bipartisan consensus, Australia’s role in Afghanistan is demonstrably counterproductive, writes Brian Toohey
04 Aug 10 Comments (0)Climate policy has stalled. So, what now?
With the government and the opposition treading water, Brian Toohey looks at alternative ways forward
08 Jul 10 Comments (1)Julie Bishop was (half) right
The convention that neither side of politics comments on the operation of intelligence agencies benefits the agencies and the government (and sometimes the opposition) but no one else, writes Brian Toohey
03 Jun 10 Comments (2)Disregarding Henry
Funds from the planned super-profits tax on mining could have been used much more productively, argues Brian Toohey, and key Henry report recommendations deserved early implementation
06 May 10 Comments (0)Dealing with China
Building Australian submarines would compound the defence white paper’s mistaken view of the threats Australia faces, writes Brian Toohey
07 Apr 10 Comments (2)Big cuts and little cuts
It’s not so much the size of government spending that counts – it’s the quality, writes Brian Toohey
02 Mar 10 Comments (1)An exotic answer to a real world problem
There are more straightforward ways of moving towards a low-carbon future, argues Brian Toohey
02 Dec 09 Comments (1)The novelists who kicked the hornets’ nests
Two novels, two realities. Brian Toohey looks at what fiction can tell us about governments and human rights
03 Nov 09 Comments (1)Shortchanging the “greatest moral challenge”
The vast spending gap between compensation and renewable energy demonstrates a lack of federal government commitment to dealing with climate change, writes Brian Toohey
07 Oct 09 Comments (6)The inheritor
John Faulkner will have his hands full cleaning up after other people’s mistakes, writes Brian Toohey
01 Sep 09 Comments (0)
